You
Stephen Potter joins us now from Milwaukee, and he's even
Hello.
So, what provisions are being made for protests there?
There are two protest areas, one on the north and one on the
south side of the larger security perimeter. Both of these areas are
about a block from the tighter inner security zone, and there
is one group known as the coalition to march on the RNC, and
they are expecting thousands of people for a rally on Monday, perhaps
5,000 people they say. This is the same group that
unsuccessfully sued the city of Milwaukee earlier this
week saying that the protest areas weren't close enough to the
Pfizer forum. We'll see what this group does if they do protest
outside of the restricted areas and what consequences they may face for
doing so. 5,000 protesters is a lot of protesters, but I suppose
that could be expected. Have there been any threats even
ahead of the convention?
There was a threat memo released by federal and local law enforcement
authorities, and they noted that the Republican National Convention is an
attractive target, they said. Some of the things that they're looking for are
swatting hoaxes, property damage, arson, delivery of suspicious
packages. Aside from that, the local law enforcement
authorities are expecting regular crime, as you would expect
for some of the crowds of this size which would be theft and
robberies. I do know also that the Milwaukee police were
warning people about the crime of carjacking, which is
a perennial issue, of course. But is the city beaten down
tight, or are people able to move about?
I mean, and I guess I ask that for when the convention is in effect proper.
The city in the downtown area is tightening as we speak, and they will
be fully locked down probably by Sunday night.
Beyond that, you know, local residents are telling me that they can still
move freely in the downtown area, and residents can move
as they wish right now. But many of the folks who do
work in the downtown area are telling me that if they can work remotely
next week, they will just to avoid the hassle. Good choice.
All right, Stephen Potter, thanks very much. We look forward to your reporting next week.
Thank you.
I forgot the damn helicopter.
I was a little herky jerky at the top. I wasn't expecting the
delay quite like that.
Do you want to do it again? Steve was good. No, Steve was good.
I was a little like, what's going on?
Okay. Let's go home.
All right, are they clear?